Behind The Mask
by Bexera Cain
Summary: Raven is a girl who lives for nothing and cares for no-one. She ventures out to Saber Tooth hoping to join a guild more suited to her ideals, but one can't say that's all. Raven is running- actively trying to escape a past which aims to consume her very being. Can Raven accept the fact that she is not as alone as she thinks she is? Or will she fail, and fall back into the darkness?
1. The Girl Who Hides Behind a Wooden Mask

Raven awoke that morning to a light sensation on her cheek, she cracked her eyes open as her dark slumber was filled with light and the sound of birds chirping, once again she had removed her precious mask to sleep. Without her mask the smooth skin on her face was so sensitive that even a dew drop falling from the tree's above was enough to wake her from her otherwise deep sleep, she yawned silently then sat up and combed out her matted dark purple hair with her fingers. She then wrapped up her sleeping bag and tucked it neatly away in the large drawstring bag that had served as her suitcase for the last nine months.

She stood and smoothed out her clothes which she had been too tired to change out of the night before, she wore a black tank top and a pair of ripped black cargo pants and some men's work boots, she then retrieved her black cloak from atop a nearby stump and draped it delicately over her shoulders.

Then she reached for her precious wooden mask that sat in the grass at her feet, right next to where her sleeping bag used to be, she bent down and picked it up, gently brushing off any dirt as she ran one hand along the wooden carvings, it was a typical wooden mask, it hadn't been painted nor decorated, it was plain. Two small circular holes had been cut for in the eyes of the carving to allow her to see but that was it, the mouth of the mask had been fixed into a stiff emotionless look while the eyes were positioned to be dim and lifeless, it was just a mask, but it made her confident that no one would ever take advantage of her emotions again, you can't control something you can't see.

She then reached up and fastened it over her face then pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head and wrapped the rest of it securely around her body, in the dark she would almost appear as a shadow, that was a plus, not being noticed, but during the day she stuck out like a sore thumb, not to mention the mask was stuffy and the black fabric of the cloak made it feel as though her skin was on fire on hot days.

She adjusted her mask once more then walked haggardly down the path that lead to town, after about ten minutes or so she reached it, she had traveled nine months to get here, nine long moths, through the winter land full of blizzards and the summer lands of terrible heat, but it would all be worth it, she had traveled this far for a single reason, to join the most powerful wizard guild in the land, Saber Tooth, she may have joined Fairy Tail, since winning the GMG they had technically re-claimed their title of strongest guild, but they were all about family, something she didn't have, nor did she want.

If she were to grow attached it would only be more painful when she would have to leave, so she had opted for a more practical guild for someone like her, one that only cared about strength, one that knew the truth about love, that it was only weakness, and if you held onto it, it would crush you in the end.

She wandered through the town, well, actually Raven didn't know what to call it, to call it a city was more appropriate, there were sixteen story high rise buildings and the streets were packed with people. It was more noise than she had heard in a long time, but in a way, she liked it, it felt…alive…real, nothing like her other places of residence, which mainly consisted of sleepy towns where the most lively thing you'd ever see was someone sneeze.

She sighed inwardly as she looked around until she found a large map that had been plastered to a nearby signboard, after looking it over a few times she confirmed that the guild she was looking for was nestled safely in the rocky mountains that surrounded the city on all sides. So with that information in her mind she set off once again, it was only about a 45 minute walk, so she had easily reached it by the time the sun hung in its highest point in the clear, cloudless sky.

She pushed open the large double doors of the guild and was hit with a wave of sound and cheering, Raven rolled her eyes, _So much for ruthless and cutthroat… _ Raven thought spitefully as she pushed through the crowd, hearing an occasional "Kanpai!" along with the sounds of glasses being filled with beer and then being slid down the bar counter towards it respectful owner.

After clearing the crowd she snuck around the large guild hall towards the back area behind the bar which had been placed in the center of the guild hall then stretched outward like a giant wall, dividing the guildhall into two parts, the section in the front which took up the whole first floor, then the section in the back that appeared to be nothing more than an oversized hallway.

Sticking to the dimly lit areas along the walls as to make sure she wasn't noticed she slid quietly into the back section, only to turn into it to see a pair of cold red eyes peering spitefully at her, she stood perfectly still, almost begging the shadows to absorb her, she didn't like to be looked in the eye, that was another reason she wore the mask, because of the shadows that the mask created over her face no one could see her well enough to do so.

But this man's gaze cut right through the shadows and stared into them sending chills up and down her spine, but she wouldn't allow him to know that he had not only startled her but was in the process of scarring her out of her wits. She shifted her footing and took a step back only to hit something hard, she felt it rise and fall as if it was breathing, which it probably was, considering it turned out to be a he.

She felt the unknown figure's hot breath on the back of her neck, despite the fact that her hood had assured it well covered, she tried not to panic as she looked back to the shadowy man that stood in front of her, his gaze still piercing her's in such a way that if felt as if he was staring into her very soul.

"What…" the voice from behind her spoke smoothly as the owner bent over, his mouth now by her ear, "Are you doing sneaking around our guild?" Raven had to admit she was intimidated, but not to the point that she would flinch, though she was close to it.

Raven then turned her head slowly, her eyes connecting to the cold stare of icy blue ones, which also seemed to stare directly at her, this time she allowed her hands to tremble slightly from underneath her cloak so that they could not see the gesture of weakness and fear.

"Because…" she spoke, mimicking his pause before she let the words roll off her tongue like silk, "I Wish to speak to your master." She said smoothly, purposely not including her reason for the meeting, seeing as she really didn't like these men, and had no intention of letting them escorting her to the master's office.

"For what reason?" He asked in an equally calm tone, his eyes boring holes into what little of her sanity she had left, she didn't like these two, they were, different, she couldn't explain it, they just were, so without answering she allowed her eyes to dart back to the first man who stood like a statue, his red eyes still looking her up and down before locking with her's once more, causing her to break the silence and reply to the blonde's question, as she needed an excuse, any excuse, to call off the interrogation she was currently apart of.

"I wish to join your guild, who else would sneak around in the shadows unless they wanted to get killed, I just don't like noise, or celebrations for that matter, so I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself." she said casually as if it was no big deal, the blond frowned at her answer, he had clearly been mapping out how to fight and eventually kill her, plans which by now had probably been ripped from him and thrown in the fire.

"Is that so…" He said in a disappointed but eerily calm voice, breaking his steady gaze to look her up and down, she had to admit, she was tall for a girl and her voice was deeper than most woman, though not as deep as that of a man, though she could easily sound feminine if she wished to, she didn't see the point. It wasn't out of the ordinary to be mistaken for a man when she first met people, so she was expecting the usual welcome, a few sneaked looks or lingering gazes around her wrapped chest, searching for any sign of a mound, which there wasn't, if she didn't wrap them they would bounce around too much to fight, so wrapping them was a necessary precaution.

"You certainly don't look like much, are you sure you have what it takes?" He practically hissed as he reached towards the hood of her cloak, causing her hand to fly up and catch his wrist in her vice like grip, his eyes widened ever so slightly as he inwardly hoped that she didn't notice how much she had startled him.

He had been watching when she had first arrived at the guild, as had his partner, she only moved a foot or so every few seconds as she blended into the shadows that danced across the walls of the main guild hall, he had carefully thought it over before he decided that he had never smelled or seen the strange cloaked intruder before, so he nodded to his partner who sat in the corner of the room as to not be noticed, his partner's eyes flickered to him before he tilted his chin and followed after the girl, eventually passing her after he learned her destination.

So after observing her slow, snail like pace and movements he didn't expect her to catch his hand, not so much as a twitch as a warning before his hand froze, halfway to its destination- her hood, he was curious by nature, so naturally he wanted to know all there was to know about the intruder, including their face, the intruder's voice broke into his thoughts as he contemplated how to react, "I am well aware how much skill is needed to join your guild, and I assure you I am not as harmless as you may think." the intruder spoke, her voice cold as ice, she peered up at him once more before tossing his hand to the side, "Rule number one, don't mess with the hood…" she said as she turned and brushed past his partner, disappearing around the corner, the dragon duo did not so much as breathe until they could no longer here the clunk of her boots on the carpet.

"Well, he may survive one or two days." Sting said casually then sighed and raked his hand through his spiky blond hair, momentarily wincing and pulling back his hand to search for the source of the sudden pain, but there, around his wrist was a bruise, a bruise shaped like a handprint.

He scowled, he didn't like being shown up, especially in front of his partner, and in his own guild hall no less, truthfully, this newcomer was a threat to him, anyone who just brushed him aside was either crazy, stupid, or strong, and since the intruder seemed to be both in his right mind and rather cleaver he opted for the later.

He partner's mouth tugged upward a bit, his eyebrow did the same, a normal person wouldn't have noticed but Sting knew Rogue all too well, for his partner it was the equivalent of an amused smirk and a cocked eyebrow, Sting scowled and shot him a glare then turned and stalked off towards the bar, this was going to be a long day, he hoped the cloaked newcomer would just hurry up and die already.


	2. Meet the Master, the Price to Join

The hallway was dead silent, all that could be heard was a soft thump as Raven's boots hit the carpet, it was a long hallway, probably meant to chew away at the wits of those who were in trouble and on their way to the master, in a guild like this, power was everything, intimidation is key. And nothing like a long, dimly lit, blood red hall that ended in a door that read _Jiemma_ said intimidation quite as much.

She felt her heart skip a beat as her magic picked up the presence of large amounts of raw power on the other side of the door, it was time. A few steps closer and her mind reeled, she was about to be face to face with what very well may be the most important decision in her life.

But she didn't stop, she just strolled right into the room, being instantly blinded by light, and considering the rest of the guild wasn't exactly well lit she had to assume she was in the right place. Once her eyes adjusted she took in her surroundings, she was in a large room complete with walls, floors and pillars that appeared to be made of some sort of purple crystal, there was about a 30 foot stretch of a long darker purple and gold carpet that then lead up to an slightly elevated section of the room, then, at the end of the carpet was a large leather couch, the man that sat in it as if he was king of the world had to be the master.

And standing next to the couch, hand rested on the back of the leather loveseat, was a tan skinned woman with black hair tied in various loops and braids, on her face a sadistic smile as she eyed Raven - who at this point was halfway to the other end of the room.

When she got within five feet of them she stopped, standing perfectly straight as her eyes locked onto the pure white ones of the master's, "What brings you to my office, brat?" He questioned, the woman at his side giving Raven a look that made her feel like she was another grain of sand in the desert.

"My name is Raven Jadeheart sir-" She began but was cut off when the woman beside him snapped, "My Master did not ask of your name weakling, why have you come to us!" Raven felt her eyebrow twitch, she despised being yelled at, she hated snotty bitches who thought they had it all, and more than anything the way the woman spoke severely pissed her off- oh this, meant war…

"Very well, I have come to join your guild." Raven stated casually, breaking her attentive stance, as she sighed audibly, any trace of her previous respect had been tossed into the fire and was no more, Raven's most powerful ability was that which allowed her to read people's emotions and personalities like a book, therefor she knew just how to please them, or in Minerva's case, how to just flat out piss them off.

"Very well brat, you are the ninth one today to come to us with this request, the others are in the back of the guildhall, about to take the test all need to pass in order to join my guild." His voice boomed, Raven had to admit she was somewhat surprised by the number of potential new members, after all, Saber Tooth had just lost to Fairy Tail in the GMG and were no longer the strongest guild, so the steady flow of new members came as a bit of a shock to her.

"I see, then I will join them." She said smoothly, her voice polite as her stance grew stiff and at attention once more, but immediately fading when Minerva spoke. "But you must also be required to give to us an object that holds great value to you, if you pass the test you will get it back, if not you will watch it burn." She said smugly. Raven could feel herself smirking under her mask, this girl was good, but she could tell this was a mere test to find what she held dearest, terrible acting really.

"I have no such sacred object, I can however offer to you something that I have carried with me for a long while…" Raven reached her hand into her cloak and pulled out something that she had acquired at the start of her journey, she didn't really know why she held onto it, she just did, something inside her told her it was important. It was a small drawstring bag, inside was a pack of magical take-over cards wrapped in fabric and four enchanted marbles, one gold, one silver, one red, and one black, each glowing their respective colors, Raven then tossed it to the master who caught it effortlessly and emptied the content out in the palm on his hand, "It has no real meaning to me, just something I picked up while I was on the road," it was another lie, that was the only evidence she had that might tell her who she was, but she would get it back the instant she passed their test, which she knew she could do easily.

Minerva sent her a small glare, "Very well then, you may go." she said, feigning a smile as her eyebrow twitched, Raven smirked again to herself, mission accomplished. Raven nodded to Minerva - which couldn't be seen under her hood - before giving a slight bow to the Master and sashaying out the back door which opened into a small clearing in the back of the guild hall, there were about 8 people standing in a row as a man with long blond hair who wore a fancy masquerade-style mask stood facing them as he spoke.

Raven rushed her steps and joined the line of recruits, the blond looked at her and smirked, "As I was saying before, your task is simple, to pass the test you must reach the top of the mountain and claim one of three cursed relics after defeating the giant Shadow Beast that lives in the cave ruins that house the relics, but be warned, there are smaller, lower ranking shadow beasts lurking all over the mountains, so once you step outside the magical barrier that surrounds the guild hall, you'll be on your own…" The man stated.

_Good, That's how I like it, alone- _Raven barely mustered the thought before Rufus spoke again, "Well, accept for your team of course." Raven clenched her jaw, great, as if it wasn't bad enough she had to waste the time to retrieve the relics she had to babysit a bunch of weaklings too, just great.

"You will depart in teams of three, you must return back to the start point with all of your team members intact and with the relics if you hope to pass, though I would normally disagree, brute strength can sometimes only be rivaled by team work, this will not only test your strength but show us how you cooperate with others, you will not however continue to be paired in the same group if you do pass the test." he stated as Raven looked over to the two people standing beside her at the end of the line, in other words, her temporary team. They both stared back at her cracking playful grins, oh dear god, help her now…

One was a girl with waist long wavy black hair and blue eyes, she wore a black tank top underneath an army green vest with short camouflage shorts, slung over her shoulder was a magical weapon, by the looks of it a mix between a shot gun and a sniper rifle, the other was a boy with spiky black hair and similar blue eyes- great, twins. He wore a pair of ripped blue jeans, an old black cowboy hat and a red plaid button up with their sleeves pushed up just above his elbows, around his waist were two holsters, each housing a magical pistol, he grinned as he tipped up his hat and brushed the tip of his nose with the back of his thumb.

Raven sighed inwardly again as the teams got into starting position - lined up in small miniature ^'s Raven in the front, the girl to her right and the boy to her left - Rufus gave the signal then she was off, "I don't care what you do just don't slow me down!" Raven hissed, the girl pulled up next her and flashed a cocky smile.

"No problamo boss lady! The name's Lyra Rollix, this's m' brother Lance!" she said, cocking her head towards her twin who gave Raven the same grin, "So who're you?" she asked a few minutes later as they slowed from a sprint to a walk, not well ahead of the other groups.

"Raven, Raven Jadeheart…" Raven said after a few seconds, to which Lyra's reply was, "Magic?" Raven thought it over for a moment contemplating whether or not she should reveal her magic to the twins, she shrugged inwardly before replying.

"I specialize in a special form of Dark Rune magic that attaches itself to weapons and objects, though I've trained hard enough so that I can activate it without channeling it into a weapon, I also use a re-quip amulet, you?"

"I mainly rely on my rifle, Lance his pistols, but we were both born with the ability to take the form of anyone we meet, as well as copycat said person's magic- though our magic normally isn't as strong as the original."

Raven nodded, it could come in handy she supposed, her train of thought was broken however when she had to side-step an incoming attack as a black blur rushed past her, she had just begun to think it had gotten quiet, the shadow beasts must have been waiting to ambush them. A loud howling filled the air as two more shadow covered wolves emerged from the brush along the side of the trail, Lyra pulled out her rifle but hadn't been given the chance to shoot, so she instead swung it like a club, knocking the beast back as it was temporarily stunned.

Raven twisted around and pulled a retractable wooden staff from her weapons belt, she knocked back the wolf as it lunged at her, then after chanting an inaudible incarnation under her breath dark purple ruins snaked their way around the staff, "Pain." Raven said calmly, her voice cold as ice. The wolf charged again, this time as she blocked the wolf jumped back, howling in pain as its front paws let off some steam with along with a sharp hiss.

"Crap, that only pissed it off…" Raven grumbled, the wolf circled her before lunging again, instead of dodging or blocking she jumped up, pushing off the wolf's head like it was a springboard, and swung down the staff, causing it to connect with the wolf's head allowing a sickening crack to ring out, as the wolf stood stunned for a moment Raven looked over to the woods where more wolves his just beyond the brush, their red eyes taking in the trios every move.

Her eyes then darted over to the twins who had taken on the other two wolves, magical bullets sent whizzing every which way. She then looked back to her own opponent who had by now recovered from the blow and was ready to strike once more, before it could move Raven darted around it, dragging her staff through the dirt as she went, she then stood in front of the wolf, "Rune!" a wall of ruins shout up out of the lines through the dirt, trapping the wolf, her staff retracted, "Collapse." the ruins darted inward, crushing the wolf which let out one final howl, she heard a few last shots from the twins, alerting her of their victory.

Letting out a series of loud howls the rest of the wolves all charged out of the forest attacking at once, Raven strengthened the pain level of her ruins as they became surrounded in a shadowy miasma, weaving and dodging while simultaneously whacking any wolf that came within arm's length of her.

"LYRA!" Raven called as she jumped up atop the head of a shadow wolf, then propelled herself into the air, coming down staff first on the head of a wolf that Lyra had been fighting, "I've got a plan, but I'm gonna need your gun." Lyra furrowed her brows and gave Raven a skeptical look then shoved her shotgun into Ravens hands, simultaneously grabbing Raven's staff away from her, the steady flow of ruins detaching themselves from the shaft and drifting lifelessly towards the ground as Lyra frowned.

"I need you to give me a boost up." Raven ordered Lyra, who rolled her eyes then knitted her hands together and threw Raven into the air, her cloak flying wildly in the wind as her long hair broke free out of the hood, partially obstructing her vision. She flipped backwards in mid-air and landed atop one of the higher branches of a nearby pine, then squatted down while simultaneously pulling her hair out of her face.

"Ruin…Scatter Shot." Raven whispered before firing the rifle, balls of a florescent purple substance sent flying in every direction like buck-shot, though when it came time for it to hit Lyra and Lance the balls just passed through their bodies which were left without a scratch, meanwhile the bullets collided with the wolves and attached to their bodies in huge clumps of jumbled purple ruins, which later spread out to coat their bodies, "Maximum Pain." Raven said coolly, static electricity rumbled over the ruins as the wolves howled in pain, "Lyra! Lance! Now!" Raven shouted.

The twins each nodded then took off in a flash, Lyra morphed into Raven and swung the staff around wildly, cracking the wolves' skulls like eggshells whist Lance weaved in and out of the crowded mass of shadow wolf, firing off rounds into each wolf causing to them to drop like flies, within minutes, they were all dead, laying in a jumbled heap on the dirt path.

Raven tucked her hair back into her hood then jumped down and tossed the rifle back to Lyra who caught it easily then squealed in delight while looking at the gun in amazement, "That. Was. Epic!" she beamed, tossing Raven back her staff which retracted as she tucked it into her weapons belt.

Then a frown spread across Lyra's face, "But when I tried to do that ruin thingy it wouldn't work, RAYYYY~! Your magic is defective~" She pouted as Lance snickered, and ruffled her hair, "Maybe you can't use it because you're an idiot, not because Ray's magic is broken or something."

"Ray?" Raven questioned, pointing dumbly to herself as Lyra nodded furiously, "Yep, Ray, its short for Raven, see?" Lyra squeaked happily while Raven sweatdropped, her eyebrow twitching slightly at her new nickname.

"Whatever, let's get going, I want to get to the top of the mountain before nightfall, the shadow beasts will have the upper hand once the sun goes down." Raven huffed, crossing her arms as she stomped off, causing Lyra to cover her mouth while stifling a laugh, Raven turned and glared at her, temporarily forgetting that Lyra couldn't see her face.

-A Few Hours Later-

The trio sat peacefully around the crackling fire, their stomach's filled with fresh fish caught by a nearby stream, well, all accept for Raven, who couldn't eat without removing her mask, which of course she didn't do. "Sooo~ Ray-chan, why do you want to join Saber Tooth?" Lyra said curiously trying to break the silence.

Raven gave her a side-glance, "Dunno." Of course she knew, but it was none of the twin's business. "A change of scenery, I guess, I used to belong to a mercenary guild called Silver Dawn, but it got old after a while." Raven then added, knowing that Lyra wouldn't take 'Dunno' for an answer.

"Well that's cool, we saw how strong Fairy Tail was during the GMG, honestly, we would have joined Fairy Tail, but I think this will be better, because then this year we may be able to actually fight against them in the GMG, which is better than fighting along-side them because that way you get to experience their power first hand. If you think of it that way then it's pretty exciting." Lance - who had been silent most of the time - finally spoke up.

"Well then I guess-" But Raven didn't get to finish voicing her thoughts as an earsplitting scream rang out through the mountains, "C'mon let's go!" Raven ordered, jumping to her feet.

"But Raven! It's dark out, we'll hardly be able to see if it's a shadow beast, besides if the shadow beast is howling then that means the other competitors are near, let them take care of it." Lyra protested, grabbing Raven's wrist, causing her to whip her head around to face Lyra.

"That's just it, what if that's the guardian of the mountain, if that group defeats it then we won't get the relics!" Raven shouted before taking off, but only to stop immediately after crashing through the next clearing, "…what is that thing?!"

[A.N./ ...don't judge, I suck at cliffhangers...]


	3. Official Member, Raven's First Mission

Raven let a loud groan escape her lips as she rolled over in bed, then her eyes shot open, remembering yesterday's events…

_"What is that thing?!" Raven gasped, towering over the unconscious and mangled bodies of three recruits was a large shadow saber beast, it had to be at least 30 feet tall and 20 feet long, so, based on its size she could only assume it was the guardian of the mountain ruins._

_She instantly pulled her staff from her belt and chanted an incantation for "Max Pain" as the shadowy purple ruins once again snaked their way around the staff, just then the twins broke through the clearing behind her, Lyra saying something along the lines of, "Holy crap." except a bit more colorful - under her breath as she pulled out her rifle._

_The fight lasted at least two hours, by the time they finally managed to take down the giant sabertooth shadow beast the sun was just peaking up over the horizon._

_They then put away their weapons and headed into the mountain caves which twisted and turned, in all honesty, they got lost several times but eventually made their way to the center of the ruins which housed a giant stone alter, and atop the alter were three pedestals, on each sat a small clay tablet covered in some kind of ancient writing._

_They each took their relic then were on their way, reaching the base of the mountain at about 3 in the afternoon, they were the only ones who had survived the test, so after handing their relics off to a smirking Rufus and washing up before changing into blood-free clothing, they headed back to the master's room._

_There they stood in a neat row, facing the master who congratulated them and then had Minerva give them their guild marks, Lyra got hers on her right shoulder blade in red, Lance got his on the right side of his lower abdomen in black, and Raven got her's on the right side of her neck in black, though Minerva made sure to press down extra hard just for kicks._

_After that, the master made what was probably the most infuriating decision any man had ever made for her, he put her in a team with the twin dragon slayers, and of course, at hearing this Raven wanted to throw her maturity out the window and throw a temper tantrum, but what little sanity she had left told her that was probably a bad idea._

_After being shown around the guild by her new, "Team" Raven then headed back into the city to look for an apartment, though she had been planning on keeping it small and low key, she ended up renting out a three bedroom penthouse suit complete with a glass wall in the living room, a large kitchenette, and a small library with a functional magical crafting table- though she later dubbed the two empty bedrooms as her storage room and her training room._

And that brought her to today, her muscles ached and her head throbbed from her wounds sustained from her previous battle, though none broke the skin she still had a sizable bruise on her stomach and back as well as on the back of her head.

Raven yawned and sat up out of bed, tossing aside her covers as she slipped a light, black sweatshirt around her shoulders to keep away the cool, early winter air. She headed to the bathroom and combed out her hair and brushed her teeth while looking herself over in the mirror, she wore the black sweatshirt over a black tank top and a pair of light blue sweat pant fabric shorts that had a white Saber tooth logo stitched into the bottom corner of the left pant leg, yes, beautiful pajamas indeed *Note sarcasm.

She then walked through the living room and toward the kitchen, however, mid-way a flash of yellow caught her eye, she turned and took in the sight before her, it was none other than Sting Eucliffe, dressed as he usually did, mouth agape as he stared at her in a mix of shock and awe.

But being the sleepy woman she was, she didn't know exactly what he was gaping at, and at this point, she honestly could care less, so without a word she frowned at him then pushed him out the door and into the hallway, "Rule number two, don't let yourself into my house without my permission." and with that she slammed the door in his face. It was only as she was headed back to the kitchen that she spotted her reflection in a small round mirror hanging from the wall, her frown turned into an aggravated scowl as she realized she had been caught without her mask.

Raven spun on her heels and opened her front door again, Sting was exactly where she had left him, jaw still dropped open as he tried to contemplate what exactly he had just witnessed, "Close your mouth or else you'll start attracting flies." she snapped, Sting shook his head and closed his mouth, regaining his cool composure.

"You coming in or not?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow, Sting nodded then walked back inside, then followed Raven to the kitchen and sat down at the table while she flitted about the kitchen gathering all sorts of ingredients.

"So, your…a girl." Sting said finally, breaking the silence, normally this question would normally cause Raven to get angry or at the very least cause her a small eyebrow twitch, but honestly, she was used to it by now, so she figured she might as well just go with it, and besides, she was gonna be stuck with this guy for a while, so if she were to flip out about it- well, it wouldn't exactly be a good way to kick of their partnership.

So instead Raven merely shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah~" She sighed as she poured some pancake batter into a frying pan.

"So, why do you wear a mask, it's not like there's anything wrong with your face…" Sting asked.

"Well, it's not even that, I used to belong to a mercenary guild called Silver Dawn, but I caused a bit of trouble before I left so they've been trying to track me down, the mask is enchanted with a spell that can hide your magical energy, but if anyone were to see my face while the spell is in effect - even if they don't know the mask is indeed enchanted - the spell will lose its power, I don't know why, but I guess magic is just unpredictable like that." Raven sighed, shrugging once more as she flipped two pancakes onto a plate and sat down at the table.

"I guess I'll just have to watch my back from now on~" She sighed. The next five minutes were agonizingly long as they sat in silence, only the soft sound of Raven chewing and swallowing could be heard, then she stood, wiped her mouth and set her plate down in the sink, then headed to her room calling over her shoulder as she walked, "I'm gonna get dressed, kay, don't destroy anything while I'm gone!" And with that, she left Sting to his thoughts.

Sting POV:

My brain was like a jumbled pile of mush, Raven = Female, _does not compute… _I mean, sure, it was possible, I just never really had any doubts about her gender before, but now that I think about it, I feel like an absolute idiot, I mean, come on! She has a deep voice for a girl, but not so deep that it could be mistaken for male, and her body language just screamed female, besides, she was fairly slim and had a semi-hourglass figure, probably a full blown one without the wrapped chest, you could see that even when she was wearing her cloak.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as Raven's bedroom door opened, she had her hair in a high ponytail, which was partially curled, not curling iron curly, but natural curly, she wore the same black tank top and sweatshirt, along with a pair of black ripped skinny jeans and with a white belt and black combat boots, attached to the belt were several pockets and loops, each holding some kind of weapon, while around her right thigh was a holster that held several different daggers.

She crossed the room and picked a black drawstring bag off the couch then gave me a side-glance as she walked towards the door, "You coming hotshot?" she questioned as she opened the door, not even bothering to turn around, I felt myself scowl but followed after her nonetheless.

Raven 3rd Person POV:

Raven then locked up her door and turned into the hallway, jumping slightly - taken aback - at the sight of a large man clad in black that sat on a bench in the hallway, on his lap a small green cat in a frog suit, next to him another small cat, this one red.

"If I knew you were out here too I would have invited you in as well." Raven said after composing herself, Rogue looked up to her and shook his head slightly as if to say, "I don't mind." Raven sighed as she walked past him and down to the lobby in silence, Rogue and Sting following silently behind her.

The walk to the guild hall was equally silent and awkward so Raven almost thought if the noise in the guild as a relief, once inside Raven dodged a drunk Lyra then the trio headed over to the request board, eventually settling for a simple decoy escort job:

_Job: Act as a noble while escorting a party of nobles in order to lure out a gang of highway robbers that have been targeting wealthy travelers along the East Fiore forest,_

_Requirements: At least two members, at least one male and one female if not more._

_Pay: 40,000 jewel_

_Location: Report to the stage coach rest stop on the east side of the city._

It was a simple enough job with a fairly good pay, so once they had one of the S-class mages approve it they were on their way, arriving at the assigned destination in record timing, though the clothes they had to wear were in no way as simplistic or casual, Raven had dyed her hair black and wore a black Victorian style dress with a lace up bodice and white frills, she was the supposed fiancé of one of the nobles. Sting had to wear what he called a penguin suit: it was a black pair of dress pants with a black tailcoat and a white tie, he would be driving the carriage that carried the nobles as well as acting as Raven's personal butler, while Rogue got stuck with what Raven believed to be the most infuriating of roles: her fiancé. Rogue wore a matching black suit similar to Sting's, while Frosch and Lector also got stuck with horrible jobs- they were to pretend to be pets.

The most important part of the mission was to make sure the other nobles did not learn that they were assigned to escort them, for then they would be all in a panic, knowing that they were going to be held up would obviously do that to a person, so they had to make sure the nobles didn't find out who they really were until the bandits attacked.

They currently sat in the large stage coach, though Sting was the one driving it, so it was basically just Raven and Rogue along with the Exceeds. Rogue looked silently out the window while Lector slept on the lap of a little girl who had taken a liking to him, Frosch sat on Raven's lap while fiddling with the frills on her dress.

She sighed and looked out the window as well, they had been traveling for hours, it was almost nightfall and they would soon be stopping for the night. This was the longest Raven had ever gone without her mask in a long time, she didn't like the fact that people could look into her eyes so easily, nor did she like the fact that she couldn't observe them without being seen herself.

I few moments later the carriage came to a slow stop, Raven inwardly muttered a word of thanks before Sting opened the carriage door, Rogue slid out smoothly, taking his "Fiancé's" hand to help her out, she took his hand and followed his lead, Frosch clutched protectively to her chest in the same way a child would hold a plush doll.

Then after watching several servants flit about to set up tents they all gathered around a fire where they were served some rather fancy cuisine, even though they were in the middle of nowhere. After dinner the younger women - Raven included - sat gathered in their tents and gossiped, though the whole thing made Raven feel rather awkward.

Raven POV:

"Miss Raven, is something wrong, you look rather glum, wait, I know, do you miss your fiancé already, aww, how cute." One girl cooed, she was about 13 if I remembered correctly, her name was Velicia Alexi, her family owned a popular stock and trade company in the north, currently she was traveling with her father on business.

I inwardly scoffed at the idea of missing those two idiots, it was foolish really, but this was all part of the job, "I suppose so…" I said calmly, smoothing out the folds of my dress.

"Oh I just knew it, you're so lucky to be engaged to Mister Rogue, he's so handsome and cool, my fiancé is just a little kid, and he's so dense, and you've also got Sting as your private butler, so lucky…" She whined as I suppressed a look of confusion, Velicia was thirteen, how the hell could she be engaged?! I inwardly shrugged, The world of the rich was a confusing place not meant to be understood by commoners like myself.

"I guess I am lucky in a sense." I replied, oh how I wanted to change the subject, if I had known this would happen I never would have taken the job, and I'm sure that Sting and Rogue felt the same way right about now.

"Come on~ Tell us Miss Raven, how did you meet him?" One girl asked, crap, that was the question I had been hoping no one would ask…

Okay Raven, think, just do what you always do, make it up as you go along, "Well, we met a few months ago at a dinner party thrown by my parents- which was actually meant to find me a husband, though I didn't know it at the time. Of course if I had I probably would have asked it be called off, I'm not really much for parties. Though being told it was to meet with potential clientele I thought it was necessary I attend." I said trying to sound dignified- that was believable, right?

"Wow, it's so cool that your parents did that, normally they just choose for you, ya know, sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't." Another girl said, I remembered her name was Glistani Lockveil, she had just been re-married to the son of a duke only one month prior to divorcing the son of a highly respectable stock broker.

"Yes, It made me proud that they wanted to make sure that I had a say in the decision. Anyways, enough chit chat, it's late, we should be getting to bed, Sting tells me we are to leave early tomorrow morning in order to reach Magnolia by noon tomorrow."

"Oh Miss Raven, your such a stick in the mud~" Velicia whined, "I think it's cool that you were raised to be totally proper and all but still, a girl needs her down time, c'mon just a bit longer?" I sighed, honestly I wanted to be out of the topic of conversation as soon as possible, and it seemed going to sleep was the only way to assure that.

"Very well~" I sighed, seeing no way around it, "But if we are to stay up any longer I at least wish to change into a more comfortable attire…" I said as I picked up my bag and walked behind one of the changing screens, sliding out of my dress and into a black silk nightgown that reached my knee's I also pulled my now black hair out of its ponytail and let it fall gently down my shoulders, but for some reason all this - the clothes the proper talk, even the speak of business dealings and arranged marriage - it all seemed like one big clump of dejavu to me.

I then folded my dress neatly and placed it on a stool and re-joined the girls who had also changed, though they didn't use the changing screens, I was starting to feel like I was the only proper one here, considering at the moment they were all acting like teenagers at a sleepover, if they only knew we would be ambushed tomorrow, I thought as I held back a frown.

"Wow Miss Raven, that nightgown is so cute, what designer is it?" Velicia asked, I looked down, it was just a simple black nightgown with a bit of golden lace.

"I made it myself actually, as practice for my needlework." I replied, in all honesty I had just stolen some silk curtains and a bit of gold lace and sewn it together quickly a month or two ago. But Velicia seemed content with my answer and moved on. A few minutes later Frosch wandered into the tent, I stood and smoothed out the wrinkles in my gown then walked over and crouched down in front of him. "Frosch is anything wrong?" I asked.

"Rogue-san's waiting outside to speak with you." Frosch said sleepily while some of the other girls squealed in delight, I rolled my eyes then gave Frosch a pat on the head and pulled a thin black shawl around my shoulders before stepping outside the tent, hearing Glistani say something along the lines of, "Take your time, lovebirds!" which caused me to scoff.

Frosch was right, Rogue was literally right outside the tent, I practically ran into the guy, "You requested my presence Mister Chenny?" I asked, not risking to drop my act considering the girls could probably hear us.

Rogue took my arm and pulled me forward into a half hug, one arm around my waist the other holding my hand which caused me to flush at the sudden contact, he then leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Sting picked up the bandit's scent, they'll be here by sunrise, sleep with one eye open tonight." he warned as I nodded, felling a small amount of heat rise to my face at the feeling of his breath on my ear, sending shivers up my spine.

He began to release me but paused, his eyes flickering to the flap of the tent which had been opened ever so slightly, several pairs of eyes peeping through. He leaned to the side, his lips barely brushing against my cheek before drawing back.

"I am sorry for disrupting your evening milady." he spoke calmly, holding my hand to his lips before planting a small kiss on it and walking off, Frosch close behind, I pulled my hand back to my chest in an aggravated huff, completely forgetting about the act, before slipping back into character and exhaling calmly before heading back into the tent to find the girls giving me suggestive looks while wiggling their eyebrows. "Oh shut up." I huffed, tossing a pillow at Velicia, nailing her in the face as the girls laughed.

"He whispered sweet nothings in your ear and kissed your cheek, then bid you adieu like a prince- its love~" Glistani cooed as I glared at her, causing her to shrug and roll her eyes playfully.


	4. The Mission Continues

Rogue sighed for what had to be the 50th time this morning. To put it bluntly, he was bored, well, he _looked_ bored was more like it, under the surface he was ready to rip some pretty boy heads off. He looked over to the young men and sighed again, _and these sorry bunch of perverts are tomorrow's rulers,_ he thought as he shook his head. Their group consisted of four men, not including Rogue, they were currently taking turns peeping through the bushes at a hot springs, and who was using said hot spring, you guessed it, the noble girls, along with Raven, for once Rogue wouldn't mind if it started raining bandits, anything to get him out of here.

He didn't see what was so appealing about peeping on girls, sure, he had his sexual desires as much as the next guy, but these men were acting like a bunch of cave men who had never seen a woman in their lives, from where he sat perched on a tree branch leaning against the trunk Rogue could see everything, the only thing he didn't see was the appeal.

He looked down curiously at Raven who was sitting at the edge of the spring which had been surrounded by a thin wall of flat rocks, hugging her towel close to her otherwise bare skin, her feet dangling in the water, she seemed to sport the same disappointed expression as he, the look on her face told everyone that she clearly had better things to do. Then a younger girl who appeared to be 13 or 14 made her way over, lightly draping her arms over the side as she sank into the water and said something inaudible to Raven, even with his superior sense of hearing he could make it out over the splashing of water that came from a miniature waterfall that cascaded down a nearby hill and flowed into the springs.

Raven scoffed and stuck her nose in the air, rejecting whatever offer the younger girl had made, a mischievous glint came onto the girl's face as she grabbed Raven's ankles and tugged her into the water, summoning a shrill screech from the dark rune mage, a look of utter shock that Rogue didn't even think she was capable of expressing was plastered on her face before she went under creating a loud splash as the silver haired girl threw back her head and laughed triumphantly, though it didn't last long as she was soon pulled under as an angry Raven resurfaced and gave the younger girl a rather uncomfortable looking noogie as she cried out comically.

Raven huffed and crossed her arms over her now bare chest, her towel floating along in the water, Rogue smirked, she hadn't even noticed it was gone, though his smirk disappeared just as soon as it had appeared as he laid his eyes at the sight of a large black and blue stretch of skin that began below her left breast and ended a little ways after her hip, _that's right_, he thought, _she still hasn't recovered from her trial yet._

Raven POV:

Vista gasped as she spotted the blackened splotch of skin that trailed the length my abdomen, "M-Miss Raven!" she sputtered attracting the attention of the rest of our little group. My breath hitched in my throat, that's right, I had forgotten all about the bruise.

"Tis nothing." I sighed, waving my hand, "It's only a bruise, I received it in training a few days back, I've had worse." I said as nonchalantly as I could.

"Training?" Vista questioned. I scoffed again, "_Oui (Yes)_ Don't be so surprised, I just don't favor the idea of damsels in distress, _a un problème? (got a problem?)_" I answered.

"No, but still, who in their right mind would hit a noble?" Glistani asked.

Uhhh… "Any master, no matter how gentlemanly, will train me if given proper cash persuasion." I said as if it were all that simple.

"Then why didn't you just hire a healer?" Glistani asked blankly.

"Just because I am a woman it does not mean that I am not capable of taking a hit, if a man can endure it so shall I." I scoffed- good thinking Raven!

Rogue 3rd person POV:

Rogue didn't know what Raven had told the girls but it made them beam brightly at her, pride and respect written all over each of their faces. He glanced down at his four companions who were in a fight over who's turn it was, he shook his head- hopeless, all of them. He smirked inwardly as he used his magic to give the men a nudge, causing them to crash into the clearing.

Raven's face contorted in rage while an older brunet just shrugged her shoulders and went back to her bath as the silver haired girl along with the other three girls covered their chests and allowed themselves to sink into the water. Rogue was officially amused. He found Raven very…enchanting…she was defiantly pretty, she intrigued him greatly as well. Her personality was unlike any other girl's he had ever met, he quite enjoyed messing with her to see how she would react, like the night before, as if a peck on the cheek wasn't enough he kissed the back of her hand, causing her to flush- proving she wasn't completely oblivious. He was curious as to what she would do in this particular situation.

She calmly walked over to the edge of the springs and slid on a short thigh length black kimono with flared sleeves then made her way towards the men, an eerily cheerful smile on her face as her eyebrow twitched ever so slightly.

She reached up one hand towards the stuttering men who were blushing furiously, he watched in curiosity as black and purple runes swirled around her arm all the way up to her fingertips, she wiggled her fingers, a steady stream of ruins floating from each finger, not including her thumb, the instant the ruins made contact with the men they dropped to the ground, Raven lifted her chin and let out a "hmph", before claiming her folded dress and sashaying back towards the camp.

Rogue snickered inwardly, what fascinating magic she used, before she was out of sight she turned her head slowly and glanced up at Rogue through the corner of her eye, she then smirked and continued on her way. The girls following her lead, only stopping to stomp on one of the men before heading off, interesting, she had known of their presence the whole time, _if I had never made their presence known,_ Rogue thought, _would she have let it slide, or would she find some other reason to punish them? _

When Rogue arrived back at the camp it had been all packed up, Raven still wore the black kimono, despite it's short and revealing length, the girls had done the same, though their multi colored kimono were a bit longer. Rogue looked up at Sting who sat in the driver's seat of the carriage before stepping inside, he felt Sting knock on the wood three times, the bandits were just up ahead waiting to ambush. He snuck his hand over and tapped the back of Raven's hand three times as Sting had just done, Raven nodded discretely before slipping her hand in between the velvet cushions on the carriage where she had hidden her weapon's belt.

The carriage began to move as Rogue clenched his teeth and his stomach began to flip-flop, damned motion sickness, the magic motion pills they had taken the day before were long out of his system, he only hoped that Sting wouldn't blow everything because of it, after all, his blond partner was the one driving.

Several minutes passed with no commotion whatsoever, and not even the slightest scent of the bandits lingered in the air around them, Rogue was beginning to have his doubts and he could tell Raven was getting impatient, the poor girl had been itching for a fight ever since they met. Seemingly her run in with the mountain beast did not satisfy this want, and though Raven had taken great pleasure in just using the small bit of magic she had this morning, she was still writhing in anticipation of what could be an actual fight - one where your opponent is human, and does fight back.

Though Raven's blood lust did not go unnoticed as several of the ladies looked at her curiously, only later writing it off as remaining anger from this morning's invasion of privacy. After all, they knew that no self-respecting lady was to show that much skin to a man until she was properly married, and Raven was - at least in their eyes - a strong willed mistress who followed every rule in the book and was proper in every way- and most likely took great shame in this morning's events.

Rogue had to say his curiosity was piqued, he liked to know exactly who it was he was dealing with, weather it was a teammate or a rival, he supposed he unconsciously picked up this habit due to the fact that his partner was severely pig-headed and would march into a fight without a second thought, so being the only reliable of the two it was his job to make sure everything was carefully thought through before anyone acted, though Raven, he could imagine, was also very capable of doing the same, as she seemed to be the cautious type, never letting any unnecessary information slip from her lips. She was closed off and he knew it had to be for a reason. A reason that he would look into further after spending more time with his new raven-haired teammate - no pun intended.

Raven 3rd Person POV

Raven reluctantly pulled her hand out from in-between the velvet cushions of the carriage, allowing her weapons belt to slip through her fingers. She scoffed in aggravation and crossed her legs, recalling her previously lady-like posture in order to match that of her current mood. had Sting been correct? or was he missing something? or maybe these bandits actually had a plan of some sort, Raven rolled her eyes at the thought, no that wasn't possible, they were mountain bandits, they didn't _think_ let alone _plan_.

An hour passed, nothing, Raven felt her eyebrow twitch as a tingling sensation coursed through her veins, she suppressed a cocky smirk and raised her hand to her lips and let out a loud whistle, as the carriage came to a halt, she, to the surprise of her female companions, did not wait for Sting to open to door and help her out, but instead pushed it open herself and climbed out, discretely pulling her weapons belt from in-between the cushions and wrapping it around her thigh under her kimono.

"_filles à venir? (Coming girls?)_" she asked, extending a hand towards Velicia who nodded reluctantly and took it, lowering herself out of the carriage as Sting came to assist the other girls, sending Raven a glare when no one was looking, one that she countered with a glare of her own.

"Why have we stopped?" Glistani asked as she stepped down. Raven tilted her chin in the air and sent Rogue a glance out of the corner of her eye before looking to Glistani once more. "It seems we are being followed." Raven said, still not dropping her act just yet, though Sting sent her another look as if to say, _"What the hell are you doing?"_

"What?" Another girl gasped. "It appears so, I had heard of some recent reports of robberies along this route, and after attaching some Runes in the forest alongside the pathway I have confirmed my suspicions, so, Sir Hoodlums, if you would so kindly show yourselves." A gunshot rang through the air as Raven tilted her head to the side, a small lock of hair drifting to the ground, then a scraggly group of men stepped out, the larger man in front clutching a pistol as he grumbled, "Damnit I missed."

Sting 3rd Person POV

"…so, Sir Hoodlums, if you would so kindly show yourselves." Sting's eye's widened, how had he not smelt it?! How had Rogue not smelt it?! Then it dawned on him, the perfume, all of the women including Raven and the young maid that sat with him in the front of the carriage were wearing perfume, it was strong, and could most likely drown out the stench of bandits, a gunshot rang out as he watched Raven tilt her head to the side, one second later and she would have been dead, though it seems luck was on the newcomer's side for this particular occasion. Raven's eyes narrowed as she clicked her tongue in disgust, "Honestly, how rude, you could at least warn a girl~" She said as her mouth stretched into a sadistic smile, causing several of their companions to flinch as Sting smirked, time to see what this rookie was made of.

"Do you know who you're talking to bitch?!" he boomed, Raven scoffed and flipped her hair, "No, I don't, but do _you_ Sir Hoodlum, know who _you_ are talking to? _I_ am Raven Jadeheart, and _you_ a petty thief." she scoffed.

"I see how it is, I like them sassy, that is, the sluts at taverns, you however are pissing me off, so sweetheart, just hand over all your valuables and I'll let you on your way." The grubby man sneered as Sting almost laughed, by the expression on Raven's face that was not going to happen.

Raven scoffed once more, "Please, do you think me a fool, I have been in many a hold up, that's what they all say, but that's never how it actually is, in fact, I bet you're thinking of all the different things you intent to do to us girls before slitting our throats." She spat, running her hand up her thigh and tugging up the hem of her kimono revealing a weapons belt, she then pulled a few kunai from it and smirked as they became coated in glowing yellow ruins and coursed with electricity.

She glanced at Sting through the corner of her eye as he nodded, this was her fight, she wanted no interference, Sting would be happy to oblige, he had noticed his teammate had been unusually excited all morning, he recognized this excitement instantly, she was pumped for a fight, he felt the same way when he just joined Saber Tooth.

He saw a silver haired girl move towards Raven but grabbed her shoulder and stopped her, "She doesn't look like much but she's more than capable of handling these guys." he told the girl, pulling her back, the girl looked from Raven to the bandit then to Sting, and nodded sadly, her eyes drifting to the ground.

Raven 3rd Person POV

"Do you know where a Dark Rune Mage gets their power?" she asked the man, who sneered at her, "Do I look like I know?" Raven raised her arm, a Kunai in between each finger of her enclosed fist, "Unlike regular Rune Mages, we cannot operate our magic without feelings and emotions, we enchant our magic with past pain and emotions in order to take down our foes, do you realize what this means?" she asked, "It means… that you aren't walking out of this in one piece Sir Hoodlum." she hissed, the man took this as an obvious threat and he and the bandits sprang forward towards Raven, there was a blur of black as she sprang into the air to avoid their attacks.

"Lighting Web!" She came tossed down the Kunai as they multiplied and grew translucent, each leaving behind a trail of ruins as it streaked through the sky, eventually forming the shape of a web, which came down as the bandits began to wail out in pain.

Raven frowned and tucked her remaining kunai back into her weapons belt with a sigh, "I was honestly expecting a bit more of a challenge, but I suppose you are only bandits after all, what a disappointment." Raven muttered crossly before extending a hand towards the bandits who still writhed beneath the web which continued to shock them every few moments. Small, light purple runes dances delicately down her arms and detached, floating gracefully through the air before settling slowly atop the heap of bandits, "Sleep." Raven murmured before letting out a disappointed sigh and turning away, the web of lightning disappearing as she did so, "Sting, tie them up, we'll hand them over to the police in the next town and collect our reward." She ordered.

Rogue POV

Rogue had to admit she was quite powerful, and though he was pleasantly surprised, she had said that her attacks are based off of the pains of her past, which means she had felt such excruciating pain once, and for some reason that did not sit right with him, he didn't like it one bit, but he just couldn't figure out why…

He then looked at Raven and thought, something wasn't right- something was wrong. She was pale- well, she was usually pale- but now, her skin appeared almost blue, as she sighed and sat down against a large tree, placing her hand on her forehead as she leaned over, instantly at her side were worried maids and the other girls. Rogue walked over them and ushered for them to leave as he sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked in his usual tone, Raven looked up at him, a bead of sweat dribbled down her forehead, she looked at him with piercing black and silver eyes, she studied his face for any sign of emotion before scowling, "I would tell you nothing's wrong but I don't really think you care."

Rogue leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, "I actually do you know, I'm not that cold." he breathed, Raven glared at him through the corner of her eyes even though he couldn't see it. Though he could feel her eyes raking over his face, deciding what she should say next.

"When using dark rune magic with a certain level of… potency… directly instead of attaching it to a weapon it is not uncommon for the user to take partial damage, after all, to access a certain level of power I must think back to when I felt that pain, then I must remember how it felt, in other words use it on myself, after remembering how it feels I normally amplify it by attaching an emotion, then I multiply the quantity of ruins it and attack with it." She explained, "In this case my physical trait was a drowsiness, a nausea, one I felt long ago, I do not remember the details, only how it felt, the emotion was depression, which lowered their stamina and will to fight on- that his how I operate my magic.

"I'm sorry." Rogue said, surprising himself at the words that had just slipped out of his mouth, Raven looked at him in partial shock, "Excuse me?" she asked as she cocked an eyebrow. Rogue shook his head, "Forget it." he said a twinge of annoyance in his voice as he stood and walked away quickly, faster than she'd ever seen him move at least.

Raven POV:

Raven scowled and sat back again, shame on her for thinking for even a second he had actually been concerned for her.

"Well, see you later I guess…" she murmured as he inched out of sight, she closed her eyes and sighed out her nose, though only a moment later she felt someone block out her light, "What?" she questioned grumpily, not bothering to open her eyes, "I explained to the girls what the hell just happened, we're dropping them off in the next town then we're taking the train home." it's owner said in a bored, and slightly agitated, tone, it was Sting, that much was obvious, she kinda figured too, despite all the fancy perfumes it was easy to pick out the scent of men's cologne, how could she tell Sting and Rogue's cologne from the other rich men you ask? Simple, the men smelled as flowery, if not more so, than the women, Raven would never understand nobles, no matter how familiar their traditions.

"Yippee." she drawled in a bored tone, her head still pounded, she was beat from using such a potent sleep spell without a weapon to channel it, but she couldn't help it, it was all too tempting. Besides, she hadn't fought in ages- well, hadn't fought a human in ages. She had fought a Saber beast only a few days before so she couldn't complain about not getting any action.


	5. Dark Dreams and Eternal Slumber

In short, as far as first missions went Raven supposed her's wasn't too bad, especially considering her extra baggage, ie: her team. The girls were surprisingly okay with the fact that Raven had deceived them, though they were a bit bummed out that they would no longer see her, either that or the fact that instead of being engaged Raven and Rogue were complete strangers, thus ruining whatever plans the girls had for the "Happy Couple."

Sting and Rogue were more than delighted when the mission was over, no more carriage rides, and most importantly no more ridiculous outfits and suffocating floral scented perfume, thank the heavens.

After reporting back to the master and receiving a loathsome glare from her good old friend Minerva when Jiemma's back was turned Raven decided to head home and rest up after her fight, all the while mentally slapping herself for showing off at the cost of using such a potent spell which would leave her drowsy for days to come.

Raven shut the penthouse door with a *thunk* tossing her larger drawstring bag across the room and onto the couch, she then made her way to the bathroom, peeling off her clothes as she went. Despite her little "dip" in the hot springs two days ago she was far from clean, though the bruising on her abdomen was nearly gone, though still greatly noticeable, she estimated it would be totally gone in another two weeks or so.

As she waited for the tub to fill she looked herself over in the mirror, twirling a strand of black hair around her finger, she rather liked this new hair color, as compared to her previous dark purple locks, with her hair black she didn't draw as much attention to herself, and on top of that it would be more difficult for her old guild to locate her, besides, she was just rather fond of the new look in general.

Raven turned off the water and lowered herself into the scalding hot water, she didn't particularly care it was practically boiling, so long as it soothed her aching joints. As she soaked she reflected back on what she had learned so far, and what the pros and cons of her situation were.

First there was Sting Eucleffe, a muscular pig-headed man with an incredible temper and a bad attitude, on top of that he was cocky and arrogant and had no respect for her privacy nor her personal space, she expected that she would often wake to find him lounging in her living room in his boxers or something of the sort.

Next was Rogue Chenny, He was the quieter and more intelligent of the two, though Raven had noticed that he had a sadistic nature hidden underneath his black clothing and shadowy exterior. She knew that if anyone he would definitely try to dig up information on her past, which she promised herself she wouldn't let happen. The man, despite his cruelty, had a major soft side for his adorable Exceed, Frosch, which she assumed she could use to her advantage in case of an emergency.

Next up was Lector and Frosch, both of which Raven was fairly fond of, though not so much so as to let down her walls.

So, in conclusion, the pros and cons were as follows: Sting, Pros = Strong, Somewhat Reliable, Dense as Hell, an Absolute Moron, Cons = Curious, Loud, Obnoxious, Arrogant, Perverted, Doesn't have the best people skills, and can be difficult to get along with.

Rogue, Pros = Strong, Fairly Reliable, Clever (Though it's both a good and bad trait in her case) may or may not be easy to manipulate if the need may arise, Cons = Smart, Suspicious, Mischievous in his own cruel way, cleaver, may or may not be a player and/or pervert- Raven had yet to find enough evidence to decide.

Lector, Pros = None that she could think of. Cons = Loud, Arrogant, a Follower and Worshiping fanboy to Sting, Obnoxious.

Frosch, Pros = Adorable, Sweet, Talks in Third Person, Not the Most Intelligent, Calls her "Heart-San" (Which she secretly loves) Cons = can't keep a secret, like, AT ALL, Tends to wander off at the most inconvenient of times, is too trusting of strangers, and on the rare occasion that Rogue gives him orders, he won't give up until they've been fulfilled.

And since reaching this conclusion Raven summed it up to the following: Sting=Arrogant, Perverted, Jerk, Rogue=Evil Little Bastard, Lector=Annoying Cat, Frosch=Pure Innocent Cuteness - it was fairly clear at this point who she favored.

After finishing mapping out her thoughts she continued her bath as per usual, stepping out of the tub and slipping on her usual evening attire, a black silk nightgown with dark purple frills at the bottom and a dark purple bow around the waist, in all honesty, it was the girliest thing she owned, and the only thing with frills that she would wear voluntarily.

She stepped out of the bathroom and instantly shivered, the bath and the steam from it had heated up the bathroom, while the rest of her home was still quite cold. She slid on some black house slippers and pulled on a warm black knitted covering that extended a bit past her waist with sleeves that were just a bit too long, making it the perfect cold night outfit, while it wasn't the most flattering thing it was quite cozy.

She checked the clock, 10pm, had she really been in the bath for almost two hours? No wonder the her skin had gotten wrinkly. Raven then set off to the kitchen to find something sweet. She didn't care how out of character it was for her to love chocolate, ice cream, - and basically anything containing sugar - and all things remotely adorable, she was still a girl- well, _woman_, she was 26 after all, but still, it was only natural.

After tearing apart her kitchen to create what might be the largest and most sugar filled ice cream sundae known to man she curled herself up on the plush couch with a blanket and her newest book and began to read, occasionally cracking a smile, smirk, or if it became too much, she would burst out into a small fit of laughter, though she never allowed it to last more than five seconds so that she could - for the most part - keep her stone cold façade. Though after about an hour there was a loud knocking at her door.

Raven scowled as she folded over the page of her book and set it down on the coffee table, removing her reading glasses and setting them down on top of the front cover before tossing the blanket aside as she stood, hugging the wool covering around her body as she shuffled to the door, ready to give whoever had disturbed her a rather unpleasant surprise.

But when she opened the door…nothing…she scowled and slammed the door, shuffling back over to the couch and plopping herself down again, grabbing her bowl and shoving a huge spoonful of ice cream into her mouth as she continued to scowl. She didn't fall asleep until well after 3:45am - but as was her nature, she was a bit of an insomniac, after all.

**Raven's Dream:**

_A black void…that is where she found herself once she finally drifted to sleep…no visible ceiling, wall, or floor, just nothingness. She turned, searching into the darkness and eventually found herself spinning, looking for any sign of life or light, she liked the darkness, but didn't like to be consumed by it, after all, how could she, after she had spent the last who knows how many hundreds of years in such an eternal sleep._

_Then, in the distance, a light, moonlight, and what appeared to be part of a forest, and with that she ran, sprinting madly towards the gap in the distance, unsure of what would await her, but she ran on nonetheless, she didn't want to be in the darkness any longer._

_The instant she broke into the forest it was as if somebody had flipped a switch, instantly it was as if some outside force had taken control of her body, she continued to run, only her breathing became ragged and her muscles sore, which was unlike her to tire so quickly._

_"ELIZABETH!" A voice yelled, within the voice was only two things, rage and depression, she didn't like it, why would such a voce call out her true name - there were only a handful of people who even knew it anymore anyways. An unexplainable sense of fear and horror settled in the pit of her stomach as she continued to run madly, crashing through barrier after barrier of leaves and foliage, her bare arms scraped and bruised, her clothing in bloody tatters._

_The voice called Elizabeth once more, closer this time, and right as she was about to dodge a fallen tree limb, something rammed into her, tackling her to the ground, pain swept through her as the air was knocked out of her lungs, she could feel a few ribs break, giving way as an incredible weight crushed her torso._

_She then found herself pinned to the ground, arms out and held down while a man straddled her hips, his legs tangles in her own to prevent her from kicking. She found herself staring into his angry yellow eyes, still having no control of her own body._

_"Now, Elizabeth, no need to be so difficult!" he hissed as she thrashed wildly below him but to no avail, a sharp pain dug into her lung and she screamed out in pain, "If only you hadn't awoken when you had you would've never felt a thing nor even seen it coming."_

_The man then bound her wrists and held her arms above her head with one hand, using the other to dig through his coat pocket, eventually pulling out a silver key, just seeing it made her feel more fear than she had felt in a long time - that thing… that dreaded thing, get that dreaded thing away from me! - she screamed in her head. _

_Then, in a flash he thrust the end of the key through her forehead with a sickening crack, her body became numb and tingly as her head began to pound wildly, Raven could feel the warm, crimson liquid flowing freely down her face, it blocked her vision, stinging her eyes and turning everything red, and then he turned it with a *click* and everything went black, and she was thrust back into the everlasting dark eternal slumber._

**Sting 3rd Person POV:**

They had left home early that day so that they could go pick Raven up at her apartment, as they entered they instantly noticed the slim figure huddled together in a mass of blankets on the couch, an open book resting on her lap.

Sting sauntered over with a smirk, possible ways of waking then teasing the raven haired woman running wildly through his head. When he finally stopped before the couch however, he had no time to react as her eyes snapped open, a hand shooting out and punching him right in the gut, causing him to double over in a fit of coughing and wheezing.

In the next two seconds Raven fully awoke, and rather unpleasantly at that, seeing as a ball of red fur jumped onto her face. She groaned as she reached up and plucked the cat off her face by the scruff of his neck while she simultaneously pulled her body into a somewhat sitting position, propping herself up with her other arm as she held Lector so that he dangled from his collar at eye level with her while he continued to thrash around screaming, "Unhand me impudent woman!" which resulted in Raven shaking him a bit while coolly replying, "Pretty big words comin' from a ball of fluff."

Sting however - still recovering from the unexpected punch to the gut - groaned, his voice raspy and strained from the fact that his precious air had been so rudely knocked from his needy lungs, "Why would you do that?!" Raven flinched as her eyes narrowed and darted over to him, Lector still dangling loosely from her grasp, "Rule number two remember, don't let yourself into my house without my permission." she shot back harshly.

"Why the harsh treatment sweetheart, we're gonna be stuck together for a _long_ time, we're "partners" remember?" he cooed, his voice still somewhat strained as he wiggled his eyebrows. Raven in response tossed her blankets aside and swung her legs over the side of the couch then stood, sending a side glare to Sting and Rogue before heading off to the kitchen, a squirming and screaming Lector still struggling in her grip, with a sigh she dropped him onto the kitchen table and ran her hand through her hair as she bent over and opened the refrigerator, pulling out a carton of milk and a plate wrapped in saran wrap. She set the plate on the table and filled a small bowl with milk then set it down as well, returning the carton to the refrigerator then looking at him.

He pulled off the saran wrap and looked at it, it was a fish, a freaking fish - it had been covered in breadcrumbs and baked until golden brown then smothered in melted butter, he looked back up at Raven who by now had crossed her arms, her right pointer finger tapping against her left bicep, her eyebrow twitched slightly, "Well, you're a cat right, cats like fish and milk don't they?" she asked quizzically, he just looked at her.

"Well then if you don't want it I'll just throw it out, it was just leftover from a few nights ago and I didn't want it to-" she stopped mid-sentence as the small red exceed dug into the large fish, the corner of her mouth twitched, threatening to stretch into a smirk as she rolled her eyes and sighed through her nose.

Looking at it now Sting could hold back a smirk, she was so predictable - well, maybe predictable wasn't the right word, he didn't know if he would ever think of the right word to describe the scene, but the similarity between her mannerisms and Rogue's were so similar that it was creepy, how the corner of her mouth would only twitch to symbolize amusement, to anybody that wasn't familiar with the body language of an emotionless rock it wouldn't look like much of anything, but to him, it was the equivalent of a full blown smirk, so he knew, Raven might as well be smirking right now, so he treated it as just that. He cracked a smile as he looked over to Rogue who was currently looking at the scene, his mouth also twitching upwards ever so slightly.

Frosch leapt from Rogue's shoulder, running as quickly as his tiny legs could carry him towards the kitchen table before his fellow exceed devoured the entire dish, Raven rolled her eyes at the scene of the two exceeds pushing each other away from the plate before she headed into her room after shooting the dragon slayers a look and muttering, "I'll be ready in 20."

Raven closed the door and let out the breath that she had been holding as she leaned back against it, it was him again, that man, she hadn't had a dream with him in it for so long so why now, was it because she joined another guild? Come to think of it the dreams stopped when she left the mercenary guild… but why would that be? It made no sense…

It was as if he was trying to corner her, because it seemed every time she became a part of something he would return and haunt her endlessly until she would abandon it, after all, she could only lock him away within the confines of her mask for so long before he would break out and continue his torturous taunting, poking and prodding at her emotions until she snapped - and as most wise mages knew, it was not a good idea to push a dark rune mage to their breaking point, magic that feeds off of emotions can be very dangerous when tampered with, which is why all dark rune mages go through extensive training in order to control and mask their emotions as to not be consumed by them, it's a truly dark gift indeed.

Raven from then went through with her usual routine, pulling on a black tank top and black denim skinny jeans with sleek black 3 inch heels, fastening her requip amulet around her neck and her weapons belt around her waist, then pulling her cloak of the wall hanger and draping it around her shoulders, pausing as she passed the wooden mask that sat on her desk in the corner of the room. She took a step back and picked it up, running her hands over the ruins carved into the inside of the mask, there were three sets of runes, _Ai,_ meaning "Love" _Chūsei Kokoro, _Meaning "Loyalty" and _Hikari_, meaning, "Light" Raven brought it up, slipping it over her face and pulling her hood up, there, she sighed in content, much better.

As she walked out of her bedroom she reached for her drawstring bag which was on the coffee table beside the door only for her hand to meet the smooth wooden surface, she scowled, thinking back, where had she put it last night?

She stepped back as the familiar black bag was dangled mere centimeters from her face, when she reached for it however is was plucked away, and replaced by the teasing face of Sting, "Looking for something?" he taunted.

Raven rolled her eyes behind her mask, "This is why I don't work with kids." she said in her usual dim tone, grabbing at the bag before it was yet again pulled out of her reach, she gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look - despite the fact he couldn't see it - before bringing her knee up into his gut, causing him to collapse onto the ground.

She bent over, pulling her bag from his twitching form and slinging one strap over her shoulder. "Rule number three, don't touch my stuff." she said in a monotone voice as she stepped over him, walked straight past Rogue, and right out the door.

Sting gave a weak groan as he got up, "What the hell is her problem, and who the hell is she calling a kid?!" he huffed, "she can't be more than a few years older than us!" he spat stomping after her - Lector following similarly in suit, all the while cursing Raven to hell. Rogue shook his head as he and Frosch wandered after them, why was it always him?

[A.N./ Just an itty bitty bit of insight: Raven is 25, while I bumped Sting up to 19 and Rogue up to 20 (They're both 18 in canon)]


End file.
